1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processing an image. More particularly, the present invention relates to processing multiple rows of pixels of an image simultaneously with a single instruction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, analyzing and processing of a selected pixel of an image includes building a pixel window having neighboring pixels of the selected pixel and processing the selected pixel with respect to the neighboring pixels in the pixel window. Accordingly, pixels in a pixel window are processed with respect to one another.
A typical hardware implementation of image processing utilizes a large buffer to store multiple pixels of image data. This requires the use of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) at a substantial cost for implementation. Further, a typical software based implementation of an imaging process requires multiple instruction cycles for building pixel windows, processing the pixel windows and loading pixels to the pixel windows, thereby consuming a higher processor bandwidth and requiring use of larger and faster processors. Unfortunately, the typical hardware and software solutions for image processing are not cost-efficient.
Accordingly, it is important to provide an image processing method and device without requiring high processor bandwidth. It is also important to provide an image processing method and device to eliminate the need to build pixel windows manually. Therefore, there is a need for executing image processing without having to utilize faster and larger processors.